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Are we destroying what makes Salem County, NJ, special?
Letter submitted to the Delaware State News, November 5, 1999
The following letter appeared Nov. 3rd in the Today's Sunbeam of Salem, New Jersey. We offer it here with the permission of the author, because it so well expresses our concerns about the sprawl that is engulfing and destroying and in some ways destroying Delaware. Salem County New Jersey, one of the oldest and most rural of New Jersey's 21 counties, faces New Castle County across the Delaware River.
Alan Muller
Executive Director, Green Delaware
Are we destroying what makes Salem County, NJ, special?
I was surprised to hear the news of the Public Service Electric and Gas industrial park coming to Oldmans Township. I am a resident of the township and knew nothing of the development until I read it in your newspaper.
The article described how fortunate we are as Salem County residents to have this growth and new jobs coming to our area. However, is growth progress? By developing our county's farmland and wooded areas, we are destroying what makes Salem County special. We are a green oasis in an ever-growing mass of housing developments, shopping malls, and interstate highways.
I have lived in this county all my life and have already seen many areas changed forever, in my opinion for the worse. Everyone likes convenience, but at what cost are we willing to pay for that convenience? Are we willing to lose our view of the night sky due to the glare of street lamps? Are we willing to exchange the sight of corn stalks blowing in a cool summer breeze for that of heat rising off an asphalt parking lot?
I don't blame the farmers. They have worked hard all their lives and stand to gain a lot of money by selling their land to developers. But, I do know that we must take a hard look at our rural way of life in this county and decide if it is worth saving. Do we allow the lure of big money offered by developers to influence us into giving our children and grandchildren less than we have been blessed to enjoy? Once our farms and woods are gone, we will never get them back.
Barry Whitehead, Jr.
Pedricktown [NJ]
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(c) Alan Muller 302.834.3466
November 5, 1999
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Let us know what you think.
Email us at
GreenDel@dca.net
or contact
Alan J. Muller, Exec. Director
P.O. Box 69
Port Penn, DE 19731
302-834-3466 Voice
302-836-3005 FAX
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This site was last updated on June 17, 2000.
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